The idea is to develop an environmental friendly and floatable house that is adaptable to seasonal floodings in the Mekong River Delta. The house is made of bamboo and equipped with smart technology. Micro:bit is used as the central controlling system to connect and control other external sensors, such as lighting, humidity and proximity, and motor servo. The humidity sensor is used to transfer a signal to the Micro:bit to operate the house with up and down lifting; the light sensor for auto-lighting; the motor servo for opening/closing the main doors.
There were 1,745 fire incidents in Vietnam last year, resulting in 109 deaths, 82 injuries and a preliminary estimated property damage of VND592.72 billion. Early detection of a fire significantly increases the chances of successful extinguishment by up to 90%. That’s why our team wants to use the programming skills we’ve learnt to develop a project that can detect and effectively extinguish fires in their early stages, reducing the loss of life and property.
Our SMAX uses advanced image processing algorithms to scan visual data from strategically placed cameras. Trained to recognise patterns, colours and movement associated with fire, the algorithm enables rapid and accurate identification.- Audible fire alarm: When a fire is detected, an immediate audible alarm alerts people in the vicinity, providing a vital early warning system. Automatic fire suppression: In response to a confirmed fire, the system triggers an automatic response, activating water spray or extinguishing chemicals. User notification for remote monitoring: Our system sends real-time messages to users, alerting them to fires, potential hazards or unusual movements detected by the camera. To ensure uninterrupted operation, the system incorporates a robust backup power solution. In the event of a power failure, a dedicated battery/rechargeable battery system takes over, ensuring continuous operation during unforeseen power outages. This maximises system reliability.
We are delighted to announce that our planned expansion is now well underway. On 18 January, the Dariu Foundation, in partnership with Swisscontact and in cooperation with the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports and the Ministry of Labour and Vocational Training, launched the Digital Literacy Initiative programme in Phnom Penh. The event was attended by H.E. Dr Oum Romny, Secretary of the Ministry of Education, Youth and Sports, Daniel Keller, Vice President of the Dariu Foundation, Markus Bürli, Director of Cooperation of the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation in Cambodia, and Philippe Schneuwly, CEO of Swisscontact. The two-year programme (2024-2025) aims to improve the education of young people preparing to enter the labour market within 1-2 years. Students from high schools and technical and vocational schools in Siem Reap and Battambang provinces will benefit from this programme, which will empower underprivileged youth to participate in the digital economy.
In early December 2023, The Dariu Foundation organized the annual Impossible Bootcamp 2023 in collaboration with its local partners in Vinh Long province. The event attracted over 250 participants from 10 different provinces.
It was organized around three different activities, including a robotics competition and a drone competition for high school students and an Impossible2023 pitching competition for high school and university students.
Over 50 teams took part in the robotics and drone competitions, from which two outstanding teams were ultimately selected. Beyond the competition aspect, participants took part in a series of training sessions that equipped them with the skills to design, construct and program robots and drones for the joint competition.
13 outstanding projects took part in the Demoday & Pitching Contest. These teams underwent a rigorous two-month training and a subsequent two-month incubation and mentoring phase before earning their place in the final round. There are two selected projects: “Smart Device to Support Rice Farming”, developed by students from Vo Thi Sau Secondary School in Hau Giang, and “EduBin – Automatic Trash Scan (Recognition and Classification Solution)”, developed by students from the University of Technology and the University of Economics in Ho Chi Minh City.
In the last quarter of 2023, The Dariu Foundation and EPAM kicked off the partnership to provide new laptops enabling children to access digital/coding training in the Mekong Delta in terms of the EPAM e-Kid program.
With a joint effort by TDF and local partners, 60,000 students in Hau Giang province will be trained in each school year, of which around 240 – 400 students will benefit directly from EPAM’s grant this school year.
The grant will provide free-of-charge rental of laptops and enable access to basic computing/coding skills for children. In addition, under the eKid program, EPAM also commits to supporting the knowledge transfer, including volunteering and the provision of teaching materials by EPAM.
Volunteering missions: EPAM supports and assists the partners in the deployment of employees. TDF will propose tasks for the volunteers to contribute to these programs, according to the conditions set by EPAM.
Share of teaching materials: EPAM is willing to provide other teaching aids to support TDF in digital literacy.
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About EPAM eKids program
The EPAM eKids program was launched successfully at EPAM offices in 2015. The program’s goal is to boost interest in programming and expand learning opportunities for young children.
Based on the MIT Scratch Program, EPAM eKids, encourages children to engage with coding through hands-on challenges and close mentorship opportunities.
We act for good in the communities where we live and work by empowering students through the power of knowledge. Our commitment to supporting initiatives that serve underrepresented communities ensures we can help to provide learning opportunities for all. We use holistic education programs to share our highly skilled technical knowledge for the future. Just as we relentlessly pursue the best solution for our customers, our employees strive to make a difference in the lives of our students – the future tech leaders – by providing education, skills training and career experiences across our global locations.
Our town often faces the risk of severe flooding, with water suddenly pouring down from the stream, causing substantial damage to homes, disrupting electricity and water supply. Therefore, we developed the floating house to solve those problems.
How does it work?
The house can float on the water when the flood happens, by using water level sensors. The rain is also collected into the storage for daily use, especially during the flooding days. Furthermore, the house has a garden to grow vegetables, controlled by automatic watering systems and uses solar panels for electricity supply. By using IoT technology, it can all be controlled remotely.
The Qualcomm Wireless Reach Program is partnering with the Dariu Foundation in Vietnam to bring Snapdragon powered laptops with LTE connectivity to students so that they can improve their digital skills. Learn how Qualcomm and The Dariu Foundation are helping close the Digital Divide in Vietnam:
Nowadays, children and young people spend a lot of time on smart devices, leading to severe kyphosis (an exaggerated, forward rounding of the upper back). Our team developed a smart wearable to protect children from kyphosis and school violence, abuse and bullying.
How does it work? Wearing the device, it will send an alarm sound if they are in a setting lacking of light. Or when they bend the back to a certain level, it will also send an alarm.
At the same time, the device works as an SOS button: If a student gets into a dangerous situation, they can press the SOS button abd the speaker will make a loud noise. In case the user cannot press the button, we used a sensor processed by a micro:bit to predict the gestures to identify it as a dangerous situation.
And last but not least, this device also works as a GPS locator so that the parent can manage their children.
“Can you fit an interesting life between two book covers? Yes, but sometimes a lot of exciting things have to be left out. Also because paper can’t reproduce sound or movies.” Swiss journalist Mark van Huisseling came to this conclusion and developed a digital biography of Thomas Trüb, founder and president of The Dariu Foundation, to be viewed on laptop, tablet, smartphone et cetera.
The trilingual website “Life of Thomas” – German, French and English – is now online. In addition to a detailed portrait of Thomas Trüb (headline: “The last yuppie”, published in the NZZ am Sonntag magazine), there are numerous original sounds from “TT” and his companions, plenty of pictures plus music (including a song composed especially for Thomas) and a conversation with ChatGPT about what the entrepreneur Trüb would probably do today.
It has been proven that drones are being used more and more frequently in rescue operations and are becoming increasingly helpful and effective. For example, when a fire breaks out in a residential building located in narrow alleyways in cities. A drone can help transport fire extinguishing balls, masks or other equipment to support rescue operations. During firefighting operations, the drone is also used to identify people in need of help in areas that are difficult to access, rooms or tall residential buildings or in smoky areas.
The camera streams live images to the control screen, allowing the rescue team to create different and effective plans for rescue operations. The drone is designed to carry two fireballs at a time. It uses camera and heat sensors to detect fire, and the user can control the dropping of the fireballs.
The drone can also be used for other rescue missions; for example, to transport water, food, milk or other supplies to assist rescue teams.
